Wilderness.org - Mardy Muriehttp://wilderness.org/tags/mardy-murie
enHappy birthday to Mardy Murie, “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement”http://wilderness.org/blog/happy-birthday-mardy-murie-grandmother-conservation-movement
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Aug 18, 2014</div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/8511179918_1ba27b0abf_z_d.jpg?itok=_cffRZkH" width="500" height="386" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>Mardy (left) and Olaus Murie were major figures in The Wilderness Society and broader conservation movement.&nbsp;</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p><em>Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, flickr.</em></p>
</div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">August 18 marks 112 years since the birth of Margaret “Mardy” Murie, a conservation champion who advocated for the Wilderness Act during a distinguished lifetime of service to nature.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Sometimes called the &ldquo;<a href="http://www.wilderness.net/nwps/murie" target="_blank">Grandmother of the Conservation Movement</a>,&rdquo; Murie served as <a href="http://www.alaska.edu/uajourney/notable-people/fairbanks/margaret-murie/" target="_blank">secretary</a> and governing council member of The Wilderness Society during her husband Olaus&rsquo; 17-year stint as president of the organization. Her activist philosophy may best be summarized in a dictum of her late husband, shared in <a href="http://usfws.tumblr.com/post/58331181243/conservation-throwback-olaus-and-mardy-murie" target="_blank">a 1978 radio interview</a>: that it is &ldquo;better to be in the thick of the fight than standing in the corner with your face to the wall.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Indeed, Mardy Murie was a trailblazer. She <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/23/us/margaret-murie-101-helped-save-wilderness.html" target="_blank">married Olaus Murie</a>, a biologist, in 1924, after becoming the first woman ever to graduate from the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines (now the University of Alaska Fairbanks). Together, the Muries embarked on <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=860015" target="_blank">numerous adventures in the Arctic</a>, providing the basis for her book &ldquo;<a href="http://www.examiner.com/review/two-the-far-north-blazes-a-beautiful-trail-through-alaska" target="_blank">Two in the Far North</a>&rdquo; (Mardy would later write two other books about the outdoors). The dynamic couple would go on to <a href="http://www.wilderness.net/nwps/murie" target="_blank">enlist Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas</a> in persuading President Dwight Eisenhower to set aside land for the Arctic National Wildlife Range and advocate fiercely for the passage of <a href="http://wilderness.org/article/wilderness-act" target="_blank">the Wilderness Act</a>, which had been authored by another Wilderness Society staffer, Howard Zahniser.</p>
<h2><a href="http://wilderness.org/article/wilderness-act" target="_blank">Learn more about the Wilderness Act</a></h2>
<p>Sadly, Olaus Murie, like Zahniser, died not long before that bill became law. In his stead, Mardy attended its signing at the White House in 1964 (<a href="http://wilderness.org/blog/memory-alice-zahniser-widow-wilderness-act-author" target="_blank">alongside Zahniser&rsquo;s widow, Alice</a>). It must have been a bittersweet occasion, but that day Mardy ensured a lofty place for herself in the annals of American conservation.</p>
<p>Mardy Murie&rsquo;s career as a wilderness advocate didn&rsquo;t end in the 1960s. She later testified before Congress in favor of the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/wrst/parkmgmt/alaska-national-interests-lands-conservation-act.htm" target="_blank">Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act</a> and received a host of honorary certificates from the National Park Service, Sierra Club, Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation and others. In 1998, she was awarded the <a href="http://www.muriecenter.org/the-murie-legacy/mardy/" target="_blank">Presidential Medal of Freedom</a>, the highest honor a civilian can receive, by President Bill Clinton.</p>
<p>Murie passed away in 2003 at the age of 101, but she would surely be proud to see that, decades after her time in the limelight, we are still celebrating the unique American allure of wilderness. Her legacy lives on.</p>
<p><img alt="" class="media-image" height="468" style="width: 500px; height: 366px;" width="640" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/9503309690_ef1a3744dd_z_d.jpg" /></p>
<p>Table Rocks Wilderness (Oregon). <em>Credit: Bob Wick (BLM California), flickr.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/article/what-wilderness"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/related_content/public/Roaring-plains-west-wilderness-west-virginia-Jonathan-Jessup.jpg?itok=NJdNnmxT" width="220" height="115" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-promo-item-teaser field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">What is considered &quot;wilderness&quot;?</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-headline field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Today, about 235 million acres of federal wildlands have been permanently protected as wilderness, parks, refuges or other protected areas. But that’s only a third of our public lands.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-node-link field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/article/what-wilderness">Read more</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Mon, 18 Aug 2014 21:06:13 +0000Max Greenberg108171 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/happy-birthday-mardy-murie-grandmother-conservation-movement#commentsThe Real Mama Grizzly Blog: Empowering other mama grizzlieshttp://wilderness.org/blog/real-mama-grizzly-blog-empowering-other-mama-grizzlies
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mar 16, 2011</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/bios/staff/melissa-koskinen">Melissa Koskinen</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/legacy/profiler/MamaG183228_1015018897M7627802_15239367801_8625867_3454244_s_0.jpg?itok=fD-0z5Iv" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>
At a recent conservation conference, I was talking with a few women who noticed that only eight of the conference&rsquo;s fifty speakers were women, despite an equal number of attendees from both genders.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
These numbers didn&rsquo;t seem right, especially knowing how many women have held&mdash;and continue to hold--critical roles in the conservation movement. And so out of this conversation, a diverse, multigenerational group of seven women set about creating the Women and Wilderness Conference, a national leadership training designed to inspire the leadership confidence of female conservationists.&nbsp; The idea is to provide a new pool of talented women to strengthen the conservation movement with their leadership now and into the future.</p>
<blockquote><h3>
<strong>More on <em>Real Mama Grizzlies</em></strong></h3>
<p> - <a href="meet-real-mama-grizzlies">About our <em>Real Mama Grizzly</em> campaign</a><br />
- <a href="who-are-real-mama-grizzlies">The women we&#39;re honoring</a><br />
- <a href="real-mama-grizzly-blog">The <em>Real Mama Grizzly</em> blog</a><br />
- <a href="real-mama-grizzly-blog-mama-grizzly-me">The mama grizzly in me</a></p></blockquote>
<p>
This past December 2010, the first Women and Wilderness Conference was held in Santa Fe, N.M.&nbsp; Fifty established and emerging women leaders from conservation organizations from around the country gathered for four days of networking and training.&nbsp; The curriculum was designed to build upon the <a href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Centered_leadership_How_talented_women_thrive_2193">McKinsey Leadership Project&rsquo;s Centered Leadership Model</a> by using each of the five leadership dimensions of meaning, managing energy, positive framing, connecting, and engaging as a workshop focus.</p>
<p>
One topic of discussion during the Conference was that women make up more than half of the U.S. population, yet only occupy between 16 percent and 20 percent of the leadership positions across major sectors of society, according to Linda Tarr-Whelan.&nbsp; A copy of her book, <a href="http://www.lindatarrwhelan.com/">Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World</a>, was given to all of the Conference attendees. Tarr-Whelan builds the case that women stepping into leadership positions makes life better for themselves, their organizations, and global society.&nbsp; She proves when female representation at the top reaches 30 percent, real change starts to happen.&nbsp; The good news is that a few more mama grizzlies in leadership positions will allow the conservation community to reach this tipping point.</p>
<p>
I had never attended a women-only training. So as I was planning the Women and Wilderness Conference, I decided to go to a day-long workshop called Poised for Leadership offered by <a href="http://www.womensleadershipcoaching.com/">Women&rsquo;s Leadership Coaching</a>, which focused on understanding power dynamics, the importance of networking and relationships, and building your influence.&nbsp; The impact this training had on my growth and development was such a powerful source of self-confidence that I knew we were on to something special, and our mama grizzlies and the lands we protect deserve nothing less.&nbsp; So we invited the workshop leader to present at our conference.</p>
<p>
My experiences with women-only education have echoed what a number of researchers describe as one of the benefits: finding a deep sense of understanding by realizing that my experiences are common among women as well as recognizing the strengths specific to women&rsquo;s leadership styles including an emphasis on listening, collaboration, and consensus building.&nbsp; As Tarr-Whelan describes, women leaders also tend to give attention to policies that integrate work and family life resulting in effective and flexible workplaces that yield results for employees, employers, and communities, not just women.</p>
<p>
<img alt="At the Women and Wilderness Conference: Gerry Jennings, Sara Lundstrom, Susan Whitmore, Lindsay Woods, Holly Baker, Michelle Haefle, and Susie Kincaid (from left to right). Courtesy Gerry Jennings." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/Women-and-WildernessConference2010-GerryJennings.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 302px;" />During the Women and Wilderness Conference, a mama grizzly sitting next to me had a remarkably similar career path as my own, including all of the highlights and lowlights along the way.&nbsp; In sharing our stories, ideas, and plans for the future, we both felt a renewed confidence in our ability to make a significant difference in the conservation community.&nbsp; Many other participants noted similar discussions with women of all ages and levels of experience from across the United States.&nbsp; Some commented on how the conference has inspired them to make positive changes in their lives and organizations. Others highlighted the new professional skills they gained that provided them with innovative tools for their land protection campaigns, and still more commented on their renewed motivation and commitment to wildland advocacy work.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
And best of all, we collectively decided that we want more information, more shared resources and ideas, and more fun, wild women to learn with; so we are in the process of organizing a women&rsquo;s network for the professional mama grizzlies protecting our wild landscapes to ensure that we are strengthening the ties between the established and emerging leaders of the movement as well as creating an environment of continual peer-to-peer learning.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Women and Wilderness Conference has started a dialogue among women conservationists who now have a community of friends and colleagues to draw upon for sharing resources, inspiration, and creating solutions together to take advantage of opportunities and overcome the challenges of protecting our wildest lands, and the real mama grizzlies who call them home.</p>
<p>
<br />
Women and Wilderness is a part of The Wilderness Society&rsquo;s Wild Forever Future Campaign. Learn more at <a href="http://www.wildforeverfuture.org">www.wildforeverfuture.org</a>.<br />
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<a href="http://tws.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Action%20Pages/Mama_Grizzly_Pledge.html">Celebrate National Women&#39;s History month by taking our Real Mama Grizzly pledge! </a><br />
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>Photo:</strong> At the Women and Wilderness Conference: Gerry Jennings, Sara Lundstrom, Susan Whitmore, Lindsay Woods, Holly Baker, Michelle Haefle, and Susie Kincaid (from left to right). Courtesy Gerry Jennings.</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:53:50 +0000104602 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/real-mama-grizzly-blog-empowering-other-mama-grizzlies#commentsWho are the Real Mama Grizzlies? Read our profiles of women conservation heroineshttp://wilderness.org/blog/who-are-real-mama-grizzlies-read-our-profiles-women-conservation-heroines
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Feb 28, 2011</div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/legacy/profiler/grizzly-avatar_0.jpg?itok=kuCdASPz" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>
<a name="top"></a>From John Muir to Bob Marshall, the American conservation movement has often been defined by prominent male voices &mdash; yet the powerful women who fought to protect America&rsquo;s wild places are seldom recognized.&nbsp; Because they worked in a movement dominated by men, these women had to be tough, intelligent and, perhaps most of all, courageous, to make an impact and preserve the places they cared deeply about.</p>
<p>
In the last century, women have changed the landscape of America through their activism. In honor of Women&rsquo;s History Month, we&rsquo;d like to celebrate the lives of a few of these pioneering women conservationists, as well as some amazing modern-day conservationists. Below are just a few examples of inspirational women who are&nbsp;<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/meet-real-mama-grizzlies"> Real Mama Grizzlies</a>!</p>
<h3>
Historic Mama Grizzlies</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="#edge">Rosalie Edge</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#murie">Mardy Murie&nbsp;</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#hunter">Celia Hunter</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#carson">Rachel Carson</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#beattie">Mollie Beattie</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>
Modern-day Mama Grizzlies</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="#egan">Veronica &ldquo;Ronni&rdquo; Egan</a>, Executive Director, Great Old Broads for Wilderness</li>
<li>
<a href="#Kristi Davis">Kristi Davis</a>, Executive Director, California Wilderness Coalition</li>
<li>
<a href="#Amy Vedder">Amy Vedder</a>, Senior Vice President, Conservation, The Wilderness Society</li>
<li>
<a href="#Nicole">Nicole Whittington-Evans</a>, Director, Alaska Regional Office, The Wilderness Society</li>
<li>
<a href="#graham">Kate Graham</a>, Public Lands Organizer, Colorado Environmental Coalition</li>
<li>
<a href="#hall">Nancy Hall</a>, Gold Butte Organizer, Nevada Wilderness Project</li>
<li>
<a href="#Mackay">Kate Mackay</a>, Deputy Director, Arizona Wilderness Coalition</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Historic Mama Grizzlies &mdash; Women who shaped conservation</h3>
<p>
<strong><a name="edge"></a>Rosalie Edge &mdash; The &lsquo;indomitable hellcat&rsquo; </strong></p>
<p>
<strong><img alt="Rosalie Edge. Courtesy Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Archives." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/RosalieEdge-HawkMountainSanctuaryArchives.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;" /></strong>Rosalie Edge was not a typical conservationist &mdash; she was raised to become a lady of high society &mdash; yet her tenacity and strong convictions led to great achievements as an activist. When she was in her 50s, a pamphlet written by a prominent zoologist inspired Rosalie to fight for threatened birds of prey. This effort led her to co-found the Emergency Conservation Committee, which established the nation&rsquo;s first sanctuary for birds of prey and successfully campaigned to create or expand several national parks.</p>
<p>
Using skills she gained campaigning for women&rsquo;s suffrage, Rosalie crafted letters, published pamphlets and lobbied Congress, fine-tuning strategies that are essential for conservation organizations today. Her often confrontational style created enemies as well as admirers, and led a 1948 <em>New Yorker</em> article to describe her as &ldquo;the most honest, unselfish, indomitable hellcat in the history of conservation.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
<a href="#top">Back to top.</a></p>
<p>
<strong><a name="murie"></a>Mardy Murie &mdash; The grandmother of American conservation</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/mardy-murie"><img alt="Mardie Murie. Photo by Boyd Norton." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/MardyMurie-BoydNorton.jpg" style="float: right; width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Margaret &ldquo;Mardy&rdquo; Murie </a>learned to love wilderness on the windswept Alaskan tundra during a youth in Fairbanks. After her marriage to renowned biologist Olaus Murie, Mardy plunged into environmental politics. Together, the legendary couple advocated for the protection of America&rsquo;s wild places, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and helped lead The Wilderness Society.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Mardy was a powerful conservationist in her own right, leading the crusade to protect Alaskan wilderness after Olaus&rsquo; death. &nbsp; She mentored many of today&#39;s conservation leaders. &nbsp;Unlike Rosalie Edge, however, Mardy did gain lasting recognition &mdash; Mardy received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was remembered as the &ldquo;grandmother of the American conservation movement,&rdquo; a humble yet determined protector of Alaska&rsquo;s wild places.</p>
<p>
In 1964, Mardy testified in support of the Alaska Lands Act, sweeping legislation that ultimately would establish millions of acres of new national parks and wildlife refuges in Alaska.</p>
<p> &quot;I am testifying as an emotional woman and I would like to ask you, gentlemen, what&#39;s wrong with emotion? Beauty is a resource in and of itself. Alaska must be allowed to be Alaska, that is her greatest economy. I hope the United States of America is not so rich that she can afford to let these wildernesses pass by, or so poor she cannot afford to keep them.&quot;</p>
<p>
<a href="#top">Back to top.</a></p>
<p>
<strong><a name="hunter"></a>Celia Hunter &mdash; Keeping &lsquo;a fire in your belly&rsquo;</strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Celia Hunter." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/CeliaHunter.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Celia Hunter didn&rsquo;t plan to be a conservationist &mdash; she just wanted a life of adventure. Celia was a WASP in World War II, but the army wouldn&rsquo;t let women fly to Alaska, so Celia and her friend Ginny Wood borrowed a pair of rickety airplanes and battled through 27 days of blistering cold from Seattle to Fairbanks.</p>
<p>
Years later, an encounter with the Muries sparked Celia&rsquo;s activism. In order to provide a local perspective on the importance of Alaskan conservation, Celia created the Alaska Conservation Society, which fought &mdash; and won &mdash; many of Alaska&rsquo;s most important environmental battles. Celia remained a tireless voice in the Alaskan environmental movement throughout her life.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;You just have to keep a fire in your belly, and you just go for it, and when you do, you can make a tremendous difference,&rdquo; she advised young activists.</p>
<p>
<a href="#top">Back to top.</a></p>
<p>
<strong><a name="carson"></a>Rachel Carson &mdash; Mother of the modern environmental movement </strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Rachel Carson. Courtesy USFWS." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/RachelCarson-USFWS.jpg" style="float: right; width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Known as the mother of the environmental movement, <a href="http://earthday.wilderness.org/hero/carson.pdf">Rachel Carson&rsquo;s environmental writings</a> inspired the nation to look at environmental problems seriously. Her famed book Silent Spring, published in 1962, provoked a national reexamination&mdash;and ban--of the use of DDT. Carson&rsquo;s writings were attacked by chemical manufacturers who painted her as an alarmist and even attempted to dismiss her findings because she was a woman. Carson was the first woman to take and pass the civil service exam for federal employment. And in 1936 she began working for Bureau of Fisheries as a biologist. She wrote several books on the environment and in 1952 left the Bureau to pursue a full-time writing career.</p>
<p>
<a href="#top">Back to top.</a></p>
<p>
<strong><a name="beattie"></a>Mollie Beattie &mdash; Bringing the woods to Washington </strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Mollie Beattie. Photo by Walter Steiglitz, Courtesy USFWS." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/Mollie-BeattieWalterSteiglitz.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Mollie Beattie&rsquo;s love of nature grew quietly, in a childhood spent outdoors with her mother and botanist grandmother. This led Mollie to an impressive career in natural resources management, culminating in her appointment as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service &mdash; the first woman to hold that position. Mollie arrived in Washington during a critical period, determined to protect the many landmark environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts, that were up for review.</p>
<p>
She had a reputation for political toughness, yet Mollie had the rare ability to bring together people with different points of view. Although she passed away after less than three years in her position, Mollie left an enduring legacy, including the reintroduction of the grey wolf to Yellowstone and the creation of 15 new wildlife refuges. In honor of her achievements, Congress named the Wilderness within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge the Mollie Beattie Wilderness Area.</p>
<p>
<a href="#top">Back to top.</a></p>
<h3>
Modern-day Mama Grizzlies &mdash; Women in wilderness today</h3>
<p>
Women have become more prominent and influential within the conservation movement than ever before. Women like Amy Vedder, the senior vice president for conservation at The Wilderness Society, and Kristi Davis, a conservation leader dedicated to involving urban youth in wilderness, inspire others and dictate policy through their dedicated action.</p>
<p>
Despite these gains, many women continue their work for conservation away from the limelight. In every community, women fight for wild places in less visible ways &mdash; they educate youth about the importance of wilderness, lead environmental initiatives in workplaces and organize grassroots campaigns in their hometowns.</p>
<p>
<strong><a name="egan"></a>Veronica &ldquo;Ronni&rdquo; Egan, Executive Director, Great Old Broads for Wilderness</strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Ronni Egan. Courtesy Great Old Broad for Wilderness." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/RonniEgan-GreatOldBroadsforWilderness.jpg" style="float: left; width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Veronica &ldquo;Ronni&rdquo; Egan is a genuine western woman who learned to love wilderness in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. She worked as a guide and outfitter both on her family&rsquo;s guest ranch outside of Santa Fe and for Colorado Outward Bound and Pack Creek Ranch in Moab&mdash;&ldquo;using my saddle as a soapbox from which to educate folks about wild places,&rdquo; as she remembers. She has worked as an environmental activist and educator for many years and has served on the boards of a variety of environmental groups in New Mexico and beyond. Currently, Ronni shares her passion and expertise as Executive Director of the national wilderness advocacy group <a href="http://greatoldbroads.org/" target="_blank">Great Old Broads for Wilderness</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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<p>
<strong><a name="Kristi Davis"></a>Kristi Davis, Executive Director, California Wilderness Coalition</strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/legacy/Kristi-Davis.jpg" style="float: right; width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Kristi Davis is a native Californian and former Girl Scout who grew up with easy access to the chaparral-covered slopes and striking redwoods near her hometown of Monterey. When Kristi was six, her dad took her on a fishing trip in the Silver Peak Wilderness, and in the years since she has come to see the outdoors as a place to renew, learn and create lasting memories.</p>
<p>
Kristi has spent much of her 14-year career helping provide outdoor experiences and education to urban youth. She has held leadership positions in a variety of nonprofits in California&mdash;she is currently the Executive Director of the <a href="http://www.calwild.org/">California Wilderness Coalition</a>&mdash;and has spearheaded campaigns to enhance the quality of drinking water and air for Californians. Kristi&rsquo;s grassroots and leadership experience have allowed her to connect with a diverse array of people, proving through her work that wild places inspire and educate all of us.</p>
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<p>
<strong><a name="Amy Vedder"></a>Amy Vedder, Senior Vice President for Conservation, The Wilderness Society</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/about-us/experts/amy-vedder"><img alt="Amy Vedder." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/Amyvedder.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px; float: right;" />Dr. Amy Vedder&rsquo;s </a>conservation career began in the wildest of places&mdash;the rainforests of Rwanda&mdash;where she spent more than 2000 hours a yard or so from wild mountain gorillas, determining what foods and habitat they needed to survive.&nbsp; She found great hope in the results (food was in abundance), and turned her attention to working with the government to protect the gorillas and their habitat. In Rwanda, Amy and her husband Bill Weber learned the importance of listening to concerns and interests of local people in crafting long-term, sustainable solutions to protect wildlife and habitat. Amy and Bill&rsquo;s book about their work in Rwanda, <a href="http://wilderness.org/content/amy-vedder-brings-lessons-rwanda-home-america">In the Kingdom of Gorillas</a>, is now in its fourth edition.</p>
<p>
What began as a scientific endeavor became a labor of love and shaped the rest of Amy&rsquo;s career. After many years with the <a href="http://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>, Amy joined The Wilderness Society, where she is currently the Senior Vice President for Conservation. Through her work with TWS, Amy has found striking similarities between conservation at home and abroad, and greatly enjoys her role of protecting the extraordinary wild places of America &ndash; now speaking as a citizen and stakeholder.</p>
<p>
<strong><a name="Nicole"></a>Nicole Whittington-Evans, Director, Alaska Regional Office, The Wilderness Society</strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Nicole Whittington-Evans" src="/sites/default/files/legacy/whittington-evans.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Nicole Whittington-Evans perfected her backcountry skills&mdash;and strengthened her love for wild places&mdash;while working as an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Wyoming and Alaska. During that time she was part of the first all-women&rsquo;s traverse of Denali, helped lead a group of students to Denali&rsquo;s summit and traversed hundreds of miles of wilderness in the Chugach, Talkeetna, Alaska and Brooks ranges and Rocky Mountains.</p>
<p>
After completing an MS in Environmental Studies, Nicole began a career in environmental policy and advocacy that allowed her to fight for many of the places she loved to explore. She began as the Executive Director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, was appointed to Alaska&rsquo;s Board of Game in 1997 and joined The Wilderness Society 13 years ago, where she now serves as the <a href="http://wilderness.org/about-us/experts/nicole-whittington-evans">Regional Director for Alaska</a>. When not working to defend Alaska&rsquo;s wild lands, Nicole can often be found outdoors with her family, teaching her two daughters to understand and appreciate wilderness.</p>
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<p>
<strong><a name="graham"></a>Kate Graham, Public Lands Organizer, Colorado Environmental Coalition</strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Kate Graham." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/KateGraham.jpg" style="float: right; width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Kate Graham began her career in national politics, yet her desire for connection with a local community and distaste for partisan causes led her to look for a different type of advocacy. Vacations on her grandparents&rsquo; farm in Georgia and one memorable trip to the canyons and mesas of Four Corners gave Kate an appreciation for wild places&mdash;and a hankering to try her luck out west. Colorado&#39;s western slope, and a job advocating for the wildlands of the Dolores River Basin, have offered Kate a perfect combination of activism, community and the outdoors.&nbsp;</p>
<p> As a Public Lands Organizer at the <a href="http://www.ourcolorado.org/" target="_blank">Colorado Environmental Coalition</a>, Kate believes that building a diverse, bipartisan coalition of conservation advocates is her most important task. When not working to protect Colorado&rsquo;s wild lands, Kate is out enjoying them&mdash;she loves to hike, bike, climb and paddle in Colorado&#39;s stunning canyon country.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>
<strong><a name="hall"></a>Nancy Hall, Director, Friends of Gold Butte</strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Nancy Hall." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/nancyhall-web.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Nancy Hall grew up in Florida, but felt drawn by the abundance of wild places and open space in the West, where stepping into her backyard felt like vacation. To get to know the landscapes, birds, plants and archaeology of her home, Nancy volunteered with local organizations and became more and more involved in the conservation community. Through explorations with local groups or just her dogs, Nancy was steeped in the unique desert landscapes around her small town.</p>
<p>
Since moving out West, Nancy has dedicated much of her time to educating children and adults about the importance of protecting Nevada&rsquo;s wild places. Today she is the Director of <a href="http://www.friendsofgoldbutte.org/">Friends of Gold Butte</a>. Nancy sees the results of her tireless work every time she guides new residents on a hike in the desert or brings her grandchildren to see &ldquo;her office&rdquo;&mdash;the canyons and redrocks of wild Nevada.</p>
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<p>
<strong><a name="Mackay"></a>Kate Mackay, Deputy Director, Arizona Wilderness Coalition</strong></p>
<p>
<img alt="Kate Mackay." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/KateMackay.jpg" style="float: right; width: 200px; height: 200px;" />Kate Mackay has worked to defend wildlands for 14 years, in places as varied as Boston, Washington, D.C., Portsmouth, NH and Phoenix. As a kid, she learned that she was happiest when exploring the cornfields and creeks around her Massachusetts home, and after a few years as a journalist, Kate translated her early love for the outdoors into a career. In Boston, she learned the power of grassroots action when she mobilized local citizens and lawmakers to protect Cape Cod National Seashore from damaging Jet Ski use. A position at the magazine of the <a href="http://www.npca.org/" target="_blank">National Parks Conservation Association</a>&mdash;where Kate was surrounded by stories and images from America&rsquo;s most stunning wild places&mdash;sparked her desire to travel, and she moved across the country to experience a few of these sights firsthand.</p>
<p>
Kate ended up in Phoenix, where she serves as Deputy Director for <a href="http://azwild.org" target="_blank">Arizona Wilderness Coalition</a>. Although the desert felt foreign to Kate at first, its subtle beauty and diverse wildlife have won her over completely. She enjoys exploring Arizona&rsquo;s unique wilderness areas with her family.</p>
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<p>
<a href="http://tws.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Action Pages/Mama_Grizzly_Pledge.html">You can be a Mama Grizzly, too. Take the Mama Grizzly pledge. </a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/real-mama-grizzly-blog">Or leave your own stories about the Mama Grizzlies you know</a>.</p>
<p>
<strong>Photos:</strong><br />
Rosalie Edge. Courtesy Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Archives.<br />
Mardie Murie. Photo by Boyd Norton.<br />
Celia Hunter.<br />
Rachel Carson. Courtesy USFWS.<br />
Mollie Beattie. Photo by Walter Steiglitz, Courtesy USFWS.<br />
Amy Vedder.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:25:16 +0000104432 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/who-are-real-mama-grizzlies-read-our-profiles-women-conservation-heroines#commentsMeet the Real Mama Grizzlies: Our campaign to honor conservation womenhttp://wilderness.org/blog/meet-real-mama-grizzlies-our-campaign-honor-conservation-women
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Feb 28, 2011</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/bios/staff/laura-bailey">Laura Bailey</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>
<a href="http://tws.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Action Pages/Mama_Grizzly_Pledge.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Real Mama Grizzly image." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/grizzly-avatar.jpg" style="float: right; width: 225px; height: 225px;" /></a>Sarah Palin&nbsp;may have&nbsp;coined the term Mama Grizzlies for her conservative female following, but because March is National Women&rsquo;s History Month, we feel it&rsquo;s time to put the wilderness-inspired Mama Grizzly title where it belongs most.</p>
<p>
Who do we feel the <em>Real</em> Mama Grizzly&nbsp;name belongs to? The women who work everyday, on the job or at home, to protect wild places and wildlife. These are the women who&nbsp; fiercely and lovingly defend vulnerable wildlands, not to mention a real grizzly cub or two.</p>
<h3>
What is the <em>Real</em> Mama Grizzly Campaign?</h3>
<p>
We&#39;re celebrating women of conservation and showing the world what <em>Real</em> Mama Grizzlies stand for &mdash; protecting the wild!&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>
We&rsquo;re calling all women, liberal, moderate or conservative (and daddy grizzlies are welcome, too) to&nbsp;display their pride by <a href="http://tws.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Action Pages/Mama_Grizzly_Pledge.html">signing our&nbsp;<em>Real</em> Mama Grizzly pledge and sharing it on Facebook</a>. Our goal is 20,000 Mama Grizzlies.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong><a href="http://tws.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Action Pages/Mama_Grizzly_Pledge.html">Show the world what Real Mama Grizzlies stand for! </a><a href="http://tws.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Action Pages/Mama_Grizzly_Pledge.html">Click here to take the Mama Grizzly pledge</a>.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Our Mama Grizzly blog series looks at ways women are involved in conservation, as leaders, teachers or mentors, and we want to hear from <em>you</em> about the work you are doing to protect our environment.</p>
<ul class="rteindent1">
<li>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/real-mama-grizzly-blog "><strong>The Real Mama Grizzly Blog, March 1: </strong></a><a href="http://wilderness.org/content/real-mama-grizzly-blog ">Tell us about the mama grizzlies you know</a>.</li>
<li>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/real-mama-grizzly-blog-mama-grizzly-me"><strong>The Real Mama Grizzly Blog, March 8:</strong> The mama grizzly in me</a> by Vice President for Conservation Dr. Amy Vedder</li>
<li>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/real-mama-grizzly-blog-empowering-other-mama-grizzlies"><strong>The Real Mama Grizzly Blog, March 16:</strong> Empowering other mama grizzlies</a> by Michelle Giacchino.</li>
<li>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/nurturing-next-generation-grizzlies"><strong>The Real Mama Grizzly Blog, March 24:</strong> Nurturing the next generation of grizzlies</a>, by Kathy Kilmer.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
We&#39;re honoring women whose lives and actions have contributed to protecting our vulnerable wildlands and wildlife. They are the historic female conservationists &mdash; as well as female mover-and-shakers in today&#39;s movement.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong><a href="http://wilderness.org/content/who-are-real-mama-grizzlies">Read the stories&nbsp;of amazing women in conservation</a>.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Who are the <em>Real</em> Mama Grizzlies? We are!</h3>
<p>
<img alt="Mardy Murie in traditional native clothing in Alaska. Courtesy Murie Collection." src="/sites/default/files/legacy/MardyMurie-in-traditional-native-clothing-Alaska-MurieCollection.jpg" style="float: right; width: 150px; height: 240px;" />Often&nbsp;working in&nbsp;the shadows of better-known male conservationists, <a href="http://wilderness.org/content/who-are-real-mama-grizzlies">female conservation leaders&nbsp;</a>helped drive the&nbsp;20th century conservation movement. They included the likes of Mardy Murie, Celia Hunter, and Mollie Beattie.</p>
<blockquote><h3>
<strong>More on <em>Real Mama Grizzlies</em></strong></h3>
<p> - <a href="meet-real-mama-grizzlies">About our <em>Real Mama Grizzly</em> campaign</a><br />
- <a href="real-mama-grizzly-blog">The <em>Real Mama Grizzly</em> blog</a><br />
- <a href="real-mama-grizzly-blog-mama-grizzly-me">The mama grizzly in me</a><br />
- <a href="real-mama-grizzly-blog-empowering-other-mama-grizzlies">Empowering other mama grizzlies</a> - <a href="nurturing-next-generation-grizzlies">Nurturing the next generation of grizzlies</a></p></blockquote>
<p>
Today women remain an important part of conservation. Whether by pushing wilderness bills through Congress or refusing to&nbsp;watch while profit-rich oil and gas companies pollute&nbsp;the land and water, these professional women of conservation&nbsp;help defend wildlands with the strength and nurturing of a Mama Grizzly bear.&nbsp;Of course,&nbsp;everyday Mama Grizzlies, are equally important. These dedicated women make protecting the earth, and passing that value on to youngsters, a part of their daily lives--whether&nbsp;by living green lifestyles, teaching younger generations the value of&nbsp;wildlands or by behaving as citizen activists by writing letters to decision makers or simply voicing their opinion with consumer choices. &nbsp;</p>
<p>
<a href="http://wilderness.org/content/rss-feeds"><strong><span style="display: none;">Get our RSS feed.&nbsp;</span></strong> </a>We&rsquo;ll be celebrating these <em>Real</em> Mama Grizzlies throughout March on our Web site and Facebook page! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/TheWildernessSociety">Become a fan of us on Facebook</a> or sign up for <a href="http://wilderness.org/content/rss-feeds">our RSS</a> feed to recieve updates as they&#39;re posted. And see related content below.</p>
<p>
<strong>Photos:</strong><br />
Mardy Murie in traditional native clothing in Alaska. Courtesy Murie Collection.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:26:23 +0000104429 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/meet-real-mama-grizzlies-our-campaign-honor-conservation-women#commentsJustice for the Arctichttp://wilderness.org/blog/justice-arctic
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jan 18, 2011</div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><em><strong>Editor&rsquo;s note: This story originally appeared in </strong></em><a href="../../../../../../content/wilderness-magazine"><strong>Wilderness Magazine</strong></a><em><strong>, our annual publication that features in-depth coverage and features about the day&rsquo;s most pressing conservation issues. <a href="../../../../../../donate/join-or-renew">Become a member</a> to receive a copy as well as quarterly newsletters.</strong></em></p>
<hr />
<h3><strong>Justice for the Arctic</strong></h3>
<p><strong>An essay by historian Douglas Brinkley<br /></strong></p>
<p>For two decades the controversy over whether to let the oil industry drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been one of the nation&rsquo;s most intense environmental battles. But in the 1950s almost no one knew anything about the place. The acclaimed biologist Olaus Murie and his wife Mardy did. And they knew it should be permanently protected from molestation by mining concerns or oil and gas outfits.</p>
<p>Though he was a U.S. government biologist for most of his career, Murie was the director of The Wilderness Society and understood a few things about what turned the wheels in the nation&rsquo;s capital. The Muries organized a five person expedition to explore the area in the summer of 1956. They had the scientific brains lined up, but needed a big name, and finally they got one when Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas confirmed that he would join the expedition on June 29 with his wife, Mercedes Hester Davidson.</p>
<p><img width="174" vspace="5" hspace="5" height="248" align="right" src="/sites/default/files/legacy/justice-william-o-douglas-harris-and-ewing-library-of-congress.jpg" alt="Justice William O. Douglas. Photo by Harris and Ewing, Library of Congress." style="float: right;" />Olaus Murie had hiked the C &amp; O Canal&mdash;the 180-mile long waterway from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland&mdash;with Douglas in 1954 during a successful campaign to prevent the towpath from becoming a highway. Murie had been amazed by the justice&rsquo;s exact knowledge of birds, astounding stamina, and conservationist conviction. Murie knew that the Arctic would satisfy Douglas&rsquo;s burning desire to escape Washington, D.C., during the humid summer. Moreover, to the brilliant jurist, nature hikes were productive think time away from the noise pollution of urban America.</p>
<p>The Muries believed that Douglas might hold the key to convincing President Eisenhower to sign an executive order protecting the area. Whenever Douglas asked, &ldquo;You want to go for a walk?&rdquo; power-brokers quickly grabbed their hats. Only Woody Guthrie and Carl Sandburg had more celebrated tramping credentials than Douglas in 1956.</p>
<p>Every chance he got, Douglas crusaded for protecting treasured landscapes. Preservation coursed through his body like red blood cells. Effectively using The New York Times and The Washington Post as his bully pulpits, Douglas argued that conservationists had to battle with both fists flying to save forests, lakes, canyons, and rivers from the maw of hyper-industrialization. Scolding, steely-eyed, and intolerant when polluters came to the highest court in the land, Douglas was always willing to be a lone Supreme Court vote when it came to protecting America&rsquo;s natural heirlooms.</p>
<p>The Sheenjek Expedition of 1956 (named for the Sheenjek River Valley) was one of those trips where party members found even cones of dried mud and cotton grass worth discussing. Everybody was measuring each other&rsquo;s depth of spirit&mdash;not their accoutrements of success. There was never a pecking order of power when Douglas was in the wilderness. He had no higher rank than tin-plate cleaner after supper. Through decades of hiking, warding off the demon polio, Douglas learned a basic outdoors lesson: Be humble and do your proper chores.</p>
<p><img width="300" vspace="5" hspace="5" height="194" align="left" src="/sites/default/files/legacy/ArcticNationalWildlifeRefuge2-USFWSHeadquarters-Flickr-web.png" alt="Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by USFWS Headquarters." />Early in the expedition Mardy Murie, wanting to be gracious, said, &ldquo;Justice Douglas, will you have some soup?&rdquo; Furrow-browed, the prodigious hiker glowered at Mardy, as if insulted, and said coldly: &ldquo;Bill.&rdquo; A little while later Mardy innocently asked, in her cheeriest voice, &ldquo;Justice Douglas, can I make you a cup of cocoa?&rdquo; Clearly perturbed that she hadn&rsquo;t gotten the message the first time, he gave her the blue-gaze treatment and a single syllable: &ldquo;Bill.&rdquo; On some of the cooler evenings Douglas would pour a little bourbon in his hot chocolate to stay extra warm.</p>
<p>With field glasses he scoured the landscape looking for the great bull caribou and watched a fox fatten itself on blueberries. Down on his hands and knees, Douglas examined lilies, buffalo bush berries, and poppies. He picked tiny bog cranberries and turned them into jam and caught grayling that he smoked with alderwood. &ldquo;What impressed me most,&rdquo; Mardy Murie recalled in her memoir Two in the Far North, &ldquo;was the far-ranging interests of this man of the law. What a divine thing curiosity is!&rdquo;</p>
<p>The Living Wilderness, the quarterly magazine of The Wilderness Society, published a detailed account of the Sheenjek Expedition of 1956 under the heading &ldquo;Alaska with O.J. Murie.&rdquo; While Murie praised Dr. Brina Kessel of the University of Alaska for documenting 85 birds on their summer trip at the article&rsquo;s outset, it was the spirit of William O. Douglas that energized this account. &ldquo;I feel fortunate in having on our Supreme Court a man of his honest outlook, and one who so loves the mountains and virile outdoor living.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Douglas had left the Sheenjek Valley convinced that it needed to be preserved as a primitive park with full federal protection. It was an Arctic Eden. &ldquo;This is&mdash;and must forever remain&mdash;a roadless, primitive area,&rdquo; Douglas said, &ldquo;where all food chains are unbroken, where the ancient ecological balance provided by nature is maintained.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Once back in the capital, he started writing My Wilderness: The Pacific West, with an opening chapter titled &ldquo;Brooks Range&rdquo; about the Sheenjek Expedition. &ldquo;The Arctic has strange stillness that no other wilderness knows,&rdquo; Douglas wrote. &ldquo;It has loneliness too&mdash;a feeling of isolation and remoteness born of vast spaces, the rolling tundra, and the barren domes of limestone mountains. This is a loneliness that is joyous and exhilarating. All the noises of civilization have been left behind; now the music of the wilderness can be heard&hellip;.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The beauty is in part the glory of seeing moose, caribou, and wolves living in a natural habitat, untouched by civilization. It is the thrill of seeing birds come thousands of miles to nest and raise their young&hellip;. The Arctic has a call that is compelling. The distant mountains make one want to go on and on over the next ridge and over the one beyond. The call is that of a wilderness known only to a few. It is a call to adventure.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The campaign worked. Douglas&rsquo;s upbeat report on the Arctic as a wilderness area had a seismic effect on the entire conservationist community. Olaus Murie had taken photographs and movies to show the splendor of the land and its wildlife, and they were put to work on college campuses, with sportsmen&rsquo;s clubs, and elsewhere. Minnesota ecologist Sigurd Olson, a future Wilderness Society president, was dispatched by Secretary of Interior Fred Seaton during the summer of 1960 to make sure the Arctic Range plan made practical sense. On December 6, a few weeks before leaving office, Eisenhower&mdash;on Seaton&rsquo;s recommendation&mdash;signed the executive order designating 8,900,000 acres in the northeastern corner of Alaska as the Arctic National Wildlife Range (changed to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1980).</p>
<p><img width="131" vspace="5" hspace="5" height="171" align="left" src="/sites/default/files/legacy/douglas-brinkley-photo-andy-turner.jpg" alt="Douglas Brinkley. Photo by Danny Turner." />Twenty years later President Jimmy Carter issued a proclamation changing the name of the Arctic Range to the William O. Douglas Arctic Wildlife Range. However, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) vowed that the Alaska Lands Act, a landmark bill then being debated by Congress, would not be passed with Douglas&rsquo;s name on that sanctuary. As it turned out, friends of Douglas had written Carter saying that Douglas himself would object to placing a human name on this great area. Reportedly, at a campfire discussion during the Sheenjek Expedition, everyone, including Douglas, had agreed that a human name on wilderness would &ldquo;degrade the area and detract from its intended significance.&rdquo;</p>
<p>After leaving the White House, Carter had a chance to lay eyes on the place that had so inspired the Muries, Douglas, and their companions. &ldquo;The closest thing I&rsquo;ve seen to this is Africa&rsquo;s Serengeti Plain,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Oil development can never be allowed here.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University, is the author of </em><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Wilderness-Warrior-Douglas-Brinkley/?isbn=9780060565282" target="_blank">The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America</a><em> and the forthcoming </em><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Quiet-World-Douglas-Brinkley/?isbn=9780062005960" target="_blank">The Quiet World: Saving Alaska&rsquo;s Wilderness Kingdom, 1879-1960</a><em>, which features Wilderness Society leaders in its account of the struggle to save Alaska&rsquo;s wilderness.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Photos: </span></strong><span style="font-size: small;"><br />- Justice William O. Douglas. Photo by Harris and Ewing, Library of Congress.<br />- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by USFWS Headquarters.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">- Douglas Brinkley. Photo by Danny Turner.</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:08:56 +0000104064 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/justice-arctic#comments